Drier foe printed sheets of paper



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1. R. A. FREEMAN.

DRIER FOE PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER.

No. 592,967. Patented Nov. 2, 1897.

3 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

B. A. FREEMAN.

DRIER FOR PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER.

(No Model.) 3 sheets sheet; 3. R. A. FREEMAN. DRIER FOR PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER.

No. 592,967. Patented Nov. 2, 1897.

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PATENT rricn.

FREEMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DRIER FOR PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters ZPatent No. 592,967, dated November 2, 1897.

Application filed August 7,1896. Serial No. 601,975. No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUFUS A. FREEMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Driers for Printed Sheets of Paper, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a side elevational view of my improved drier. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, enlarged. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the arm mounted upon the transfer-carriage. Fig. 6 is a detail View illustrating the way in which the Withdrawing and returning carriage engages the drying-pan.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in driers, and particularly, though not exclusively, to that class of driers which are adapted to be used in connection with printing-presses. The object of such a drier is to receive the freshly-printed sheet as it leaves the press and by carrying it olf permit the ink to dry thoroughly before the sheets are piled.

The device illustrated in the accompanying drawingsiis particularly adapted to such work, although Ido not wish to be understood as limiting myself to any particular manner of operating my invention, the construction of the machine, or the peculiar mechanism shown for transferring the drying-pans from one stack or tier to another, as there are many modifications which could be employed without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention. I also Wish to state that although I have shown my invention as being peculiarly adapted for receiving the freshly printed sheets from a printing-press, the latter, however, not being shown, as it forms no part of my invention, and the construction and operation of these machines being sufficiently well understood as not to require a detail description or illustration, there are'other uses to which it could as advantageously be put-as, for instance, drying gummed paper, green sandpaper, fruit, dire.

Briefly stated,myinvention consists in suitable mechanism for supporting and causing the travel of the drying-pans and in the means for transferring the drying-pans at the ends of the tiers or stacks from one tier or stack to another.

The invention further consists in means for withdrawing a pan from its stack to receive the article to be dried and returning said pan to the stack; further, in mechanism which is so arranged or timed that during the operation of withdrawing and returning a pan the stack remains stationary and while the stack is moving the withdrawing and returning mechanism is in position to cooperate with the pans.

Qther features of invention reside in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts, all as will hereinafter be described, and afterward pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A indicates a suitable framework, which is preferably open to permit a free circulation of air, said framework being also, by preference, mounted on rollers for obvious reasons. Mounted in suitable bearings arranged in the upper and lower portions of this framework are shafts upon which are arranged sprocket-wheels 13, over and under which run chains orbelts C. These chains or belts have arranged on their outer faces a series of parallel rods or slats D, which form guideways and supports for the dryingpans E. These pans, as shown in Fig. 2, comprise a suitable open framework, in which is secured a meshwork of wires, thus permitting a free circulation of air. The meshes may be fine or course, as desired, or the pans may have imperforate bottoms if necessary.

Mounted on shafts of sprocket-wheels B, preferably those located at the bottom of the machine, are beveled gears F and F, with both of which a beveled gear G engages. I am. now referring to one side of the machine only, and I will say that the construction of both sides is substantially the same. On the shaft of gear G is a ratchet-wheel H, which is operated by a pawl h, carried by an arm I, pivoted on the shaft, said arm I having connected to its other end a link J, whose other end is bifurcated to receive a shaft K, journaled in the front of the machine and by which said link is supported and guided.

A rollenj is arranged on the link near its front end, which roller extends in a cam-slot (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) cut in the inner face of a disk L, arranged on shaft K. Upon the rotation of this disk the link is reciprocated, which rocks the arm II, and by the engagement of the pawl carried by this rock-arm with the ratchet-wheel said ratchetwheel is partially rotated, which causes the rotation of the gear G and its meshing gears F and F. The gears F and F being fixed to the-shafts of the sprocket-wheels B and being located on opposite sides of the gear G will cause said sprocket-wheels to rotate in opposite directions, and consequently the slatted belts, as I will term them, will move in opposite directionsthat is, one will travel in an upward and the other in a downward direction. In referring to the travel of these slatted belts I desire to say that when each belt is full of drying-pans, as shown in Fig. 3, said pans are supported by the slats on that part, or, I, might say, that half of the belt which faces inwardly, and the language used above refers particularly to that half of the belt. Of course. that part of the belt which faces outwardly moves in an opposite direction from the inner half of the same belt; but as the slats on the outer half perform no function when in that position I do not intend to include them in the above description.

Secured to a crank or wrist pin on disk L is a link M, whose other end is slotted and receives a stud or pin extending from a lever N, which is pivoted to the framework of the machine. The ends of lever N are slotted to receive studs or pins 0 and 0 on sliding blocks 0 and O, which blocks travel along tracks or suitable guides arranged at the top and bottom of the frame, which blocks, together with their respective conneetin g-rods P and P,form whatI shall term upper and lower transfer-carriages. Mounted upon these transfercarriages are arms 19, which are adapted to engage the drying-pans and transfer them from one stack or tier to the otherthat is, when the upper transfer-carriage is at the front of the machine it engages, through the bottom of the front stack or pile.

The machine shown in the drawings is designed to operate so that the stack of pans in the front of the machine travels in an upward direction, while the rear stack travels in an opposite or downward direction. This, however, is of minor importance, as the machine would run equally well in either direction, the only change necessary being in the arms 1), which would have to release the pans in a manner reverse from that shown.

Arms 19, as shown in the drawings, consist of a portion 11, which is pivoted to its support through the medium of a knuckle-joint, the arms at the top of themachine being capable of moving upwardly, while those at the bottom move downwardly. Suitable springs p are arranged to cooperate with these arms so as to hold them yieldingly in place. The free ends of these spring-pressed or yielding arms are adapted to engage the pans and transfer them from one pile to the other, as above described, said arms having positive engagement with the pans when the pans are brought to that position where the arms can engage them, and after the arms have transferred the pans from one pile to the other said arms being yielding will disengage themselves from the pans, leaving or depositing said pans in a stack other than that from which the pans were taken. From the above it will be seen that this engagement between the arms and pans is substantially like that of a spring latch or bolt and its keeper, and therefore it is obvious that there are many different ways for eifecting this engagement and release between thetransfer-carriage and the pans.

Suitable supports P are preferably arranged in proper position between the two stacks or tiers of pans relative to the upper and lowermost pans to guide and support said pans when being transferred from one pile to the other.

Q designates what I may term the withdrawing and returning carriage, which is arranged at the front or feeding end of the machine. This carriage is supported upon and guided by suitable tracks which are mounted upon brackets R, secured to the front of the framework of the machine. The carriage has mounted upon it finger-like projections whose inner ends are formed with lateral wings or as T-heads, which are so arranged as to be in alin ement with slots in the dryingpans when said carriage is in the position shown in Fig. 1. These slots are open at their outer sides, forming substantially T- slots, which permit the pan to engage the carriage in its vertical movement from below, and as soon as thepan is returned or restored to its proper position in the pile after the pan has received its load to disengage itself from the projection by moving upwardly. Of course it will be understood that in the event of the stack, which I have termed the front stack, moving in a downward direction these projections would engage and disengage the pans in the-same manner. To operate this withdrawing and returning carriage at the proper time, I connect the same to the lever N through the medium of chains or flexible straps S. By making these straps continuous-that is, having their ends connected to the ends of lever N, which lever at certain times has an oscillating movementr-and securing the carriage to these straps (for there are preferably two, one on each side of the machine) so that the carriage may be positively operated without any danger of binding on its guideways I am enabled to effect a reciprocation of the carriage,which is not only properly timed, but is positive. The carriage is adjustably mounted on the straps so as to properly aline its finger-like projections Q relative to the slots in the pans, which are adapted to cooperate with said projections. I will state, however, that thiscarriage Q is not necessary to the machine embodying my invention and may be said to be an attachment, for it is obvious that its absence would not affect the travel of the stacks nor the transfer of the pans from one stack to the other.

It is useful in some forms of driers-for instance, like th at shown in the drawings, where the machine is adapted to be operated by and in connection with a printing-press. The withdrawing and returning carriage is useful here to take a pan from the stack, place it in position to receive a printed sheet from the press, return the pan so loaded to the stack, and withdraw another in time to re ceive the next printed sheet, cc. Thus it will be seen that, regardless of the height of a stack, a pan may be removed, loaded, and returned. On the other hand, a pan might be loaded when it is on top of the stack either before it is transferred or after it has been transferred and before it has started on its downward course. In order to impart motion to the particular machine shown, I prefer to mount a sprocket wheel or wheels T on the shaft K and by a chain T connect directly to the cylinder driving mechanism of the press. If desired, however, a countershaft may be employed, whereby the number of rotations of the cam-disk L relative to the speed of the cylinder may be properly proportioned, as one to two or one to three, to.

The operation of the device illustrated in the drawings is as follows: Assuming the parts to be in position as shown in Fig. 1, the power being applied so that the disk L will rotate in'the direction of the arrow, the first positive movement will be in respect to the link J, which will rock the arm I, causing the ratchet-wheel H and gear G to partially rotate, which will drive the gears F and F, causing the upward travel of the front stack and the downward travel of the rear stack. During this actuation of the stacks the link M,through the medium of the slot-and-pin connection with the lever N, will not actuate said lever until the link J has completed its operation. The return of link J so as to be in posit-ion to again partially rotate the ratchet-wheel, is unimportant as to'time; but said link and the arm should be in position to be operated before the parts are again in the position shown in Fig. 1. When the front stack moves upwardly, the projection Q, of the withdrawing and returning carriage is in position so that it will pass into the slot of the drying-pan, as shown more clearly in Fig. 6. \Vhen the front stack completes its movement, as above described, the drying-pan will be locked to the carriage Q, and the top pan of the front stack and the bottom pan of the rear stack will have been raised and lowered, respectively, so as to be in engagement with the arms 13 of the transfer-carriages. By this time the slot in the end of link M will have reached the end of its play or lost motion, and the link M will now positively engage the lever N, causing it to oscillate, which will move the upper-and lower carriages and the pans carried thereby to'the positions shown by the dotted lines. Then this transfer of the pans has been ac complished, the slot in the end of link M will permit lost motion, giving to the lever N a short rest, which is utilized by the withdrawing and returning carriage, which at this period occupies an outer position with its carried pan, so that said pan may receive its load. This position of rest or inactivity of I the parts is but temporary, as the pin on lever N will soon again engage the link M,which will return the parts to the position shown in Fig. 1.

It will be noticed from the above that while the stacks are moving they move the pans into position to be engaged by the transfercarriages and by the travel of the slatted belts offer a new or an unoccupied space for the reception of the pans to be transferred. This movement of the stack'also disengages the loaded pan from the withdrawing and returning carriage and moves an empty pan, as I might call it, into engagement with said carriage. lVhen the withdrawing and returning carriage is reciprocating, the stacks are stationary, so that the pan which is withdrawn from the front stack is returned to the space from which it was taken. This cycle of operations is repeated, and by the time that the pan first loaded is in position to receive another or freshly-printed sheet the ink on the sheet previously placed on the pan will have become dry. Therefore it might be said that in connection with a printing-press the capacity of my drier is not limited to the number of pans, but to the depth and capacity of the pans for receiving the sheets multiplied by the number of pans. In some instances the sheets might be placed on one side of the pans and then the machine moved so that the pans would receive an additional or double charge of sheets at its other side.

From the above it will be seen that many modifications in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of my device could be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what drying-pans, of independentcarriers moving vertically in opposite directions and means for transferring the pans, at top and bottom, from one carrier to the other; substantially as described.

2. The combination with traveling stacks or tiers of drying-pans, of means for causing the simultaneous upward movement of one stack and downward movement of the other, and means for automatically exchanging the pans of said stacks simultaneously at top andbottom respectively; substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the traveling stack of drying-pans, of. a Withdrawing and returning carriage for withdrawing and returning a pan from, and to, said stack; substantially as described.

1. The combination, with a traveling stack of drying-pans, of a withdrawing and returnin g carriage for withdrawing a pan from the stack intermediate its top and bottom, said carriages, also returning the pan to its proper place in the stack; substantially as described.

5. The combination, with traveling stacks withdrawing and returning carriage connected to and operated by the transferring mechanism for withdrawing a pan from one of said stacks and returning said pan to its proper place; substantially as described.

6. The combination with a suitable framework, of pairs of slatted belts arranged therein, the slats of one pair of belts being arranged on a line with, or end to end to, the slats of the other pair of belts, drying-pans supported by the slats of said belts, and means for transferring said pans from between the slats of one pair of belts to between the slats of the other pair of belts; substantially as described.

7. The combination with suitable framework, of pairs of slatted belts capable of traveling in opposite directions, the slats of said pairs of belts being in line with each other, drying-pans supported by said slats, and transfer-carriages cooperating with dryingpans on the slats at the ends of said belts, for transferring the pans from one pair of belts to another, substantially as described. I

8. The combination with traveling belts, of drying-pans supported thereby, means for effecting the travel of said belts, said means also operating transfer-carriages to transfer the drying-pans from one pair of belts to another, and a withdrawing and returning carriage connected to and operated by the transfer-carriages for withdrawing a pan from the belts to be loaded, and then returning said pan to the belts; substantially as described.

9. The combination with pairs of slatted belts, of beveled gears for causing the travel of said belts, a gear which is common to both of said gears and in mesh therewith, a ratchetwheel fixed to the shaft of said common gear, a rock-arm carrying a pawl in engagement with the ratchet-wheel, a link, and a cam for operating said link; substantially as described.

10. The combination with pairs of slatted belts, drying-pans supported thereby, a camdisk, mechanism which is operated by said cam-disk for causing the travel of said belts in opposite directions, a slotted link connected to said cam-disk, a lever which is operated by said slotted link, and transfer-carriages which are operated by the ends of said lever; substantially as described.

11. The combination with a suitable frame work, of traveling belts, drying-pans supported thereby, transfer-carriages mounted on the framework, yielding arms on the carriages for engaging the pans and moving them at right angles to the direction of travel of the belts, and means for operating said carriages; substantially as described.

12. The combination with a suitable framework, of traveling belts, drying-pans supported thereby, said drying-pans being formed with T-shaped slots in their edges, and a withdrawing and returning carriage having projections in the paths of said slots, whereby, said carriage engages the pans; substantially as described.

13. The combination with traveling stacks of drying-pans, of means forimparting a stepby-step movement thereto, and a reciprocating carriage which engages the pans in theirmovement, and withdraws and returns said pans while the stacks are stationary; substantially as described.

14. The combination with traveling stacks of drying-pans, of means for imparting a stepby-step movement thereto, mechanism for transferring the pans from one stack to another, and a reciprocating carriage for withdrawing and returning the pans while the stacks are at rest, said reciprocating carriage being connected to, and operated by, the transferring mechanism; substantially as described.

15. The combination with traveling stacks of drying-pans, of means for imparting a stepby-step movement thereto, transfer-carriages arranged at the ends of the stacks and including said stacks in their travel, said carriages being provided with means, whereby, they engage a pan at the ends of the stacks, said carriages transporting the pans from one stack to another and releasing the pans when in line with the stack to which it is carried; substantially as described.

16. The combination with traveling stacks of drying-pans and means for imparting a step-by-step movement thereto, and transfercarriages for cooperating with the dryingpans at both ends of the stacks; substantially as described.

17. The combination with traveling stacks of drying-pans, of transfer-carriages which coijpemte with pens at the ends of the stacks, flexible straps connected to said transfer-earriages, and a Withdrawing and returning carriage adjustably attached to said straps for cotipereting with pans intermediate the ends of a stack; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto effix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 25th day of July, 1896.

RUFUS A. FREEMAN.

Witnesses:

HUGH K. WAGNER, F. R. CORNWALL. 

